Weil's Appellate & Strategic Counseling group welcomes you to Weil's SCOTUS Term Review. Here, we summarize and analyze the cases from the 2023 Supreme Court Term that are most germane to our clients' businesses.

In Harrington v. Purdue Pharma LP, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court held that the Bankruptcy Code does not authorize bankruptcy courts to confirm a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan that discharges creditors’ claims against third parties without the consent of the affected claimants. The decision rejects the bankruptcy plan of Purdue Pharma, which had released members of the Sackler family from liability for their role in the opioid crisis. Justice Gorsuch wrote the majority decision. Justice Kavanaugh dissented, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Kagan and Sotomayor.

Today, in Office of the United States Trustee v. John Q Hammons Fall 2006, LLC, the Supreme Court held that debtors who paid fees in bankruptcy cases administered by the U.S. Trustee Program are not entitled to any relief, even though the Court previously ruled that those debtors had been unconstitutionally overcharged. This decision is the culmination of several years of litigation concerning differential fee structures across judicial districts.

This morning, the Supreme Court decided Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum Co., which clarifies that any party with a "direct financial stake in the outcome" of a reorganization has standing as a "party in interest" to object to a Chapter 11 plan. 11 U.S.C. 1109(b). Writing for a unanimous Court, Justice Sotomayor held that the debtor's insurer has standing to object even if the plan purports to preserve the insurer's legal rights and thus is said to be "insurance neutral."

Borrower beware: in times of distress, your credit documents may give your secured lenders an opportunity to “flip” control of your board

Distress happens, even at companies that once appeared financially solid. When it does, the company, its board (which may be controlled by a sponsor in a public or private equity scenario), and its lenders often enter into restructuring discussions in search of a consensual path forward, typically under the terms of a forbearance agreement.

When a company is on the brink of entering into insolvency proceedings the tax impact, understandably, may not be at the forefront of everyone’s mind and so may be overlooked. However, entry into liquidation or administration or the appointment of a receiver can have an adverse impact on, and sever, UK tax groups. This can result in (unexpected) tax leakage and further depletion of assets, adding greater pressure to the distressed situation.

HMRC has recently updated its published guidance on the effect of insolvency on existing VAT groups following appointment of an insolvency practitioner.

The updated guidance

The updated guidance provides that:

Medio 2023 heeft de Tweede Kamer een start gemaakt met de behandeling van het wetsvoorstel voor de (nieuwe) Energiewet. De Energiewet bevat de regels voor de elektriciteits- en gasmarkt en het energiesysteem. Met de komst van de nieuwe Energiewet, zullen de huidige Gaswet en Elektriciteitswet 1998 worden vervangen.

De Hoge Raad heeft zich uitgelaten over de vraag in hoeverre er rekening moet worden gehouden met de draagkracht van een rechtspersoon bij het opleggen van een boete. De zaak waarin deze vraag speelde, gaat over een bedrijf dat is veroordeeld wegens het meermalen medeplegen van valsheid in geschrifte. In hoger beroep heeft het Openbaar Ministerie een boete gevorderd van 135.000 euro.

www.ploum.nl Kwartaalupdate Bestuurdersaansprakelijkheid Q3 2023 1 START IT UP! Introductie Auteurs: Thomas Munnik en Annerieke Meerkerk In het derde kwartaal van 2023 zijn op www.rechtspraak.nl verschillende uitspraken gepubliceerd waarin de ingestelde vordering gegrond was op bestuurdersaansprakelijkheid. In deze Kwartaalupdate Bestuurdersaansprakelijkheid voor Q3 2023 is een selectie gemaakt uit deze uitspraken. De navolgende onderwerpen komen aan bod: 01. Bestuurder aansprakelijk vanwege onjuiste mededelingen? (Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden 5 september 2023) 2 02.